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/geographical sketch 



ST. DOMINGO, CUBA, 



NICARAGUA, 



! .MARKS ON THE PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP GREAT BRITAIN, 
AFFECTING THOSE COUNTRIES. 



PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS. 



The object of this sketch is to illustrate the moral condition of a 
region which has hitherto been regarded with but little interest except 
on the score of trade, and to point out some of the obstacles which 
have been placed in the way of its advancement. 

These lands of the " Cypress and Myrtle," have, by their luxuri- 
ous productions, ministered largely to the enjoyment of the people of 
other countries, and almost the only plant of that clime which has 
been viewed with total indifference by enlightened and polished nations 
seems to have been Man. 

If these few pages should inspire a single operative kindly feeling 
towards the race alluded to, or tend in any degree to the correction 
of the abuses which have been so long practised, the writer's aim will 
be accomplished. 






GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



ST. DOMINGO, CUBA, 



NICARAGUA, 



REMARKS ON THE PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OP GREAT BRITAIN, 
AFFECTING THOSE COUNTRIES. 




BY A TRAVELLER. 



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BOS TON: 
185 0. 

EASTBURN'S PRESS. 



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HAYTI. 



The island of Hayti was discovered by Colum- 
bus in 1492. It is situated between 17° and 20° 
north latitude, and 68° and 75° west longitude. It is 
360 miles in length, from east to west, varying in 
breadth from 60 to 120 miles. Its circumference, 
measured by an even line, excluding its bays, is 
1000 miles. This island, so important for its situa- 
tion and great natural advantages, lies 45 miles east 
of Cuba, and 60 miles from Porto Rico, and can be 
seen from either in clear weather. It is four times as 
large as Jamaica, and about equal in extent to Ire- 
land. Jamaica lies westward about 40 leagues, and 
the Bahamas north about two days sail, and south- 
ward is the great continent of South America. Colum- 
bus gave it the name of Hispaniola, and that of San 
Domingo, (the Spanish for Sunday) to a city estab- 
lished on the south side in 1494, but in process of 
time the whole island was called by the latter name. 
It afterwards re-assumed its original name of Hayti, 
and is now divided into two distinct territories. The 



Q HAYTI. 

Haytien Republic possesses about one-third of the 
island — that part which the Spaniards had ceded to 
the French, and which subsequently fell into the 
hands of the black population. The Dominican Re- 
public possesses two-thirds on the eastern side of the 
island. Its inhabitants are the descendants of the 
natives Columbus discovered, and of the Spaniards 
that settled there. 

This island is one of the richest in tropical pro- 
ducts. The western side belonging to the Haytiens, 
is remarkable for its fertility j and though the east- 
ern side is by no means equal to the western, yet it 
contains certain districts which alone are capable of 
producing more sugar and other valuable products 
than all the British West Indian Islands together. 
The country is continually refreshed by breezes and 
rains, and its salubrity seems to increase yearly. 
There are three principal chains of mountains, the 
whole of which are fertile and susceptible of cultiva- 
tion even to their summits. Their highest elevation 
is about 6000 feet above the level of the sea. These 
are covered with forests of mahogany, Brazil-wood, 
palms, elms, oaks, pines, iron-wood, cedar, ebony. 
The island has its mines of gold, some of which must 
even lie on the surface, as much of the dust rolls with 
the sand of the Yago river, and is often gathered by 
the peasantry, at certain seasons of the year. There 
are also mines of silver, copper, iron, and lead. Its 
plains nourish vast herds of cattle, equal in every re- 
spect to those of the continent, and sufficient in num- 



HAYTI. 7 

ber to supply all the West Indies. The temperature 
from the tops of the mountains to the sea-side, varies 
from 50° to 85°. It would be difficult for a person 
unacquainted with mountain scenery in the tropics, to 
form an idea of the grandeur and loveliness of nature 
as exhibited in these wonderful hills. Jamaica and 
Martinique have scenes of surpassing beauty, but are 
as inferior to Hayti, as a lake compared to the ocean 
in extent. In Hayti the soil is fertile in the extreme 
— there are fields of canes which were planted in the 
times of the French possession, which have yielded a 
yearly crop ever since, and are yet in cultivation. 
The French with great truthfulness, designated this 
island as the Queen of the Antilles. 

Turn we now from the pleasant contemplation of 
the works of God to a consideration of some of the 
baleful influences which have plunged these children 
of nature into a labyrinth from which it is not easy 
for soul or body to escape, into a condition worse than 
that of slavery. 

Hayti about a half a century ago was in a state of 
rebellion against France, at the same time that the 
latter was entangled in the European war. The Brit- 
ish were then at war with France, and were one of 
her most hostile neighbors, as they not only engaged 
wherever they could meet the French at home, but 
aimed also at their colonies. Hayti was one of the 
most prosperous and richest spots of the new world, 
and at the opening of the war attracted the attention 
of the British government. They hastened to help 



g HAYTI. 

the Blacks, with no other motive than that of taking 
possession of a French territory, the most beautiful 
spot of creation, and to effect as much destruction as 
possible, wherever they could come in contact with 
French interest. They concealed from the Blacks the 
real motive of their interference, and induced a belief 
in their minds that England was their friend and 
wished to assist them. They took possession of sev- 
eral towns, built forts and began to settle as if at 
home. The Blacks did not at first observe that this 
intrusion was preparing a new struggle for them, but 
soon after were obliged to turn their arms against their 
early professed friends, and succeeded in driving them 
out. The policy of the British was hypocritically 
quiesent, and though driven out, they continued to fa- 
vor the Blacks, increasing their means of defence and 
preventing thereby future submission to France. 

At this period Napoleon sent an army to Hayti of 
about 40,000 men, the command of which was trusted 
to his brother-in-law who had received from him secret 
instructions. It is not to be supposed that it was with 
the view only of reconquering St. Domingo, but also to 
render harmless these troops who were the flower of 
France, and devoted to the interest of General Moreau 
his rival. He had orders to take possession of the 
island and make it the home of the army. Had 
these officers been experienced or well acquainted with 
the state of things in the island, had they not intended 
to renew the slave system, when emancipation had 
been proclaimed by France itself, had they kept them- 



HAYTI. 9 

selves in the sea-ports, instead of uselessly worrying 
the poor soldiers in the mountains they would have 
secured the possession of it to this day, though the 
Haytiens at that time could set on foot 150,000 men 
bearing arms. Fevers induced by excitement and 
great privations destroyed most of the French army. 
From 40,000 men it had been reduced to 1200, who 
held in possession the town of Cape Haytien, then be- 
sieged by 15,000 men under the black General Des- 
saline. An English squadron having blockaded the 
port, supplies of provision were cut off both by sea 
and by land. Unable to obtain aid of any kind, Gen- 
eral Rochambeau capitulated to the English squadron 
on condition that officers and soldiers, though consid- 
ered as prisoners should be exchanged on their arrival 
in Europe for English prisoners. Such was the issue 
of that expedition. 

This unexpected assistance increased the amicable 
feelings of the Blacks toward the British and they 
truly believed the motive for assisting them was dis- 
interested, which assistance was indeed continued to 
Christophe, who was a native of St. Christopher's, and 
came to Hayti before the rebellion. Meantime Des- 
saline the Black emperor was shot and Gen. Christophe 
elected President by the Assembly of Port au Prince. 
He refused this election, but proclaimed himself king, 
under the title of Henry 1st. Notwithstanding the 
treaty of 1815 by which Hayti was guaranteed to the 
French nation and the Spanish part to Spain, the Brit- 
ish continued their protection to King Christophe who 



1Q HAITI. 

was at all times disposed to receive his much beloved 
friends and their vessels on most favorable terms. 
This friendly preference on one side and indirect pro- 
tection on the other were carried to the extreme, — 
Schools even, were established to teach the English 
language. The deputy French ambassador, Medina, 
in defiance of the law of humanity as acknowledged 
among the most savage barbarians was put to death. 
An American captain was also hung under the custom 
house of Cape Henry, upon very questionable ground. 
So well had the King been tutored in his duty and 
taught that he might bully and defy every one, so 
long as England was with him. 

During the same period, Petion, a highly educated 
Mulatto, and a patriotic chief, governed the other prat 
of the island, he having been made President in the 
place of Christophe who had refused the republican 
Presidential chair to assume a self-made throne, that 
he might be admitted to the brotherhood of Kings. 
Petion's policy was a just one. He deemed friendly 
connections with all nations necessary to the prosper- 
ity of his country, at the same time refusing all trea- 
ties and protection, that might endanger its prosperity 
or the independence of its nationality. He had to 
sustain a civil war against Christophe the king, which 
he carried on with republican and liberal principles, 
and though he was obliged to fight, not only Chris- 
tophe and his army, but also against the indirect assis- 
tance of Christophe's good friends, the English, his re- 
public survived. He had received the French Deputy 



HAITI. 11 

sent to him, the colleague of Medina, who was basely 
murdered by Christophe, with the considerations due 
to his mission. He died some time after, leaving en- 
couragement to the hopes of a future treaty with 
France. 

Boyer succeeded him in 181'8. He was an intelli- 
gent man and capable at that time to take the lead. 
He continued to hold the republican principles against 
Christophe, the king, who could no longer govern his 
people and was dethroned by his own followers, who 
immediately after hailed the Republic with joy, while 
the peasantry who had been under the rule of the 
fallen King, greeted Boyer as their liberator and their 
father. The British losing their ground by the death 
of Christophe had no further opportunity for openly 
exercising any direct influence, but were treated on 
terms of equality with all other nations. Thus they 
showed a policy inconsistent with truth, — having 
signed a treaty restoring the Island of St. Domingo to 
France on one side, and on the other giving direct as- 
sistance to the Black King against the French up to 
his death in 1820. This cannot be considered other- 
wise than dishonorable, as that island was a French 
colony till 1825, when Charles X, King of France ac- 
knowledged its independence, under a treaty stipulat- 
ing an indemnity in favor of the former landholders. 

Boyer succeeded in uniting the whole island under 
one government. The Spaniards, the descendants of 
the friends of Columbus, and of the natives he found 
in the island, proclaimed emancipation and their inde- 



12 HAYTI. 

pendence of Spain and willingly joined the Haytien 
government, under their then existing institutions. 
Spain claimed an indemnity from Boyer who refused 
it on the ground that if Spain possessed the abil- 
ity to reconquer the Spanish territory and its inhab- 
itants, that she had the full right, but that he could 
not oppose an annexation, solicited by the natives 
themselves. No people ever had reason to welcome 
peace more joyfully than the Haytiens, for they had 
been suffering for 30 years, a desolating war, which had 
reduced the population to one-third of its former num- 
ber. Under the French the population was about 
600,000 ; now, it is not over 200,000,— The Domini- 
cans number 100,000. The Haytiens are scarcely 
able to set on foot 10,000 men, and the Dominicans 
cannot raise more than 8,000. 

Boyer fully capable of assuming the power in 1818, 
and of carrying it on under its established principles, 
concluded a treaty with France, and obtained by a 
stipulated indemnity, the independence of the Repub- 
lic. From that day he lost his popularity — he was no 
longer the man for the new state of things. Some, 
through ignorance, blamed him. for consenting to the 
indemnity, considering that they had already paid full 
price for their independence, not perceiving that, by 
this course, he at once established the country on a 
solid basis. The President, on his side, still adhered 
to his former policy, instead of adopting one grounded 
upon religious principles and public virtue, which 



HAYTI. 13 

might have quieted the many difficulties he had yet 
to contend with, though outwardly at peace. 

The new treaty had much annoyed the British, as 
under its provision, the French enjoyed their full 
rights in the country. The people, however, were 
greatly in need of peace and liberty, particularly in 
the north where they had been oppressed by the King, 
worse even than in the past time of their slavery. 
They remained quiet and for twenty years afforded 
no hold in the North for foreign intrigue, grown yet 
more active, while partially concealed by liberty of 
action. In the South, where the Republic had ex- 
tended its policy to the toleration of a licentious free- 
dom, in order to lessen the monarchical power, demor- 
alization and indolence took the place of their military 
courage, thus leaving them open to foreign intrusion. 

In the meantime, the British had emancipated the 
Africans in her colonies— first in action she claimed 
all the sympathy and gratitude of the African race, 
concealing from them that her sister nations had also 
signed the treaty of Emancipation, though they had 
not the advantage of accumulated gold in their coffers, 
or any means of giving immediate compensation to 
the owners of slaves. For as slavery had been a curse 
transmitted from the ignorance of past ages, handed 
down from father to son, under the sanction and pro- 
tection of Government, and it being generally admitted 
that Governments as well as individuals are obliged by 
principle and equity, to give compensation for injury 
committed, they could not abandon to distress and 



J4 HAITI. 

ruin those who were relying on the protection of their 
own laws, but recognized their obligation to indemnify 
the owners of the emancipated slaves. This principle 
of indemnification is the great obstacle in the way of 
emancipation. The taxation consequent upon the 
British Emancipation, was cheerfully met by the peo- 
ple of the United Kingdom, and to them is a large 
share of gratitude due, but the policy of Government 
was concealed from all. A naval force was sent to the 
coast of Africa, whose province it seems to have been 
to allow thousands and thousands of Africans to be 
shipped on board of slavers, crowded together like 
sheep, only that they might be recaptured by ves- 
sels of the squadron, the British Government paying 
to the navy a premium for every one so recaptured. 
Thus were these unfortunate beings exposed to the 
danger of being drowned by whole cargoes, or of los- 
ing their lives in the action of recapturing, for the 
Slavers were desperate men, who preferring to be shot 
rather than to be hung, often engaged in sanguinary 
battles, without the slightest regard for the lives of 
their innocent victims. Thus the immense capital ex- 
pended by the British Government was of little or no 
benefit to the cause of liberty, for though Emancipa- 
tion had been proclaimed, they still designed to keep 
the Africans in subjection to their own interests. 
They proposed to Boyer to bring to Hayti some of 
their recaptured cargoes of human flesh under condi- 
tions that were not made known. Boyer refused, for 
he could not misapply the revenue of the Republic, 



HAYTI. 15 

already pledged to pay France the indemnity that se- 
cured the independence of the country, and because 
that at that time his expenses were immense in con- 
sequence of the armies in the North and South, neither 
of which he dared disband as he depended on one to 
render the other powerless. He could not then spare 
the money necessary for the education of men in a 
wild and primitive state, and wished to save his coun- 
try from being overwhelmed with a flood of ignorance. 
His refusal prevented Hayti from participating in the 
shameful system. The captured Africans have been 
sent ever since to the British islands, and bound out 
to planters under the name of apprentices. This cer- 
tainly could not have been done either in Hayti or in 
Liberia. 

All classes of people had at this time become dis- 
satisfied with the compromising policy of Boyer, per- 
ceiving that it kept the country in a state of entire 
stagnation and rendered its course retrograde. As 
the views and principles of other governments chang- 
ed, his needed to be altered, that the Haytiens might 
also receive the impulse that should keep them in the 
wake of other nations. Public schools were wanted, a 
renovation of moral and religious principles were in- 
dispensable, for no republic can long exist without 
true hearted men devoted to the execution of its laws, 
and to the prosperity of its institutions. 

The revolution of 1843 was long in embryo among 
the politicians and 'the conductors of the press. Young 
men whose education had been confined to elementary 



IQ HAITI. 

instruction, to the exclusion of more enlarged and 
loftier views, made a vehement opposition, which of 
course created party spirit, and made an opening for 
foreign intrusion. The revolution begun at Aux 
Cayes under the direction of individuals hitherto un- 
known to the people, with no other merit on the part 
of the leaders than that which belongs to the attribute 
of brutes — animal courage. They started under a 
manifesto written by some of their followers, contain- 
ing principles, which if carried into practice, would 
have honored the country. This manifesto was se- 
cretly spread over the island, and adopted by the 
whole population. Boyer on this occasion proved 
that either age, fortune, or a secluded life had placed 
him out of the political sphere of the times. Had he 
been liberal, and willing to change his system of gov- 
ernment for a better one, he could have checked that 
revolution by an appeal to the people, for they had no 
ill feeling towards him personally, but merely an hos- 
tility to his monotonous and quiet policy. Had he ap- 
pealed, many of the people in the South, the whole 
North, the Dominicans and the Haytiens would have 
joined his standard ; he might have checked the pro- 
gress of the revolution and placed the country in a 
state of advancement, securing thereby its permanent 
peace as well as his own safety, but he preferred to 
persevere in obstinacy. Instead of sustaining his gov- 
ernment under the modifications called for, at Port au 
Prince, he injured his country by an untimely abdica- 
tion, abandoning it at the very crisis when he was 



HAYTI. 17 

needed, as the man who had received for twenty-five 
years the peaceful obedience of the people, to one 
whom he well knew possessed neither the ability to 
govern, nor the confidence of the nation. 

The leaders in that revolution betrayed their follow- 
ers, by their immorality and their incapacity, — they 
had not learned the first rudiments in the knowledge 
of self-government. 

Guerrier, a black man, assumed the power. He was 
the oldest General then living, — and a man who had 
displayed much dignity and independence of character 
under the Government of Christophe, though at the 
same time one of his most faithful soldiers. His high 
qualities made him courteous to all, just and equitable 
in every act. He had fought many battles in the for- 
mer war, and had learned from experience to trust no 
foreign counsel, for he had been possessed of many op- 
portunities for observation while holding a station of 
influence under Christophe, and had well improved 
them. His first public act was an attempt to destroy 
party spirit and division of color. He opposed all for- 
eign interference, either direct or indirect, of what he 
termed " snake-like policy." He refused to war 
against the Dominicans, being under the conviction 
that brotherly feelings would sooner unite them, and 
considering that they had a natural right to their na- 
tive land, he was on the eve of recognizing their inde- 
pendence as another race of men, inoffensive to the 
Republic. Indeed so far was he from encouraging the 
war of caste that he often exhorted the blacks to unite 



18 HAITI. 

with the nmlattoes, entreating them to regard each 
other, as fathers, brothers, and children of one family. 
He had a natural horror of bloodshed, and refused ever 
to sign the death-warrant of any. He was old, and 
died too soon for the good of his country. 

A little before his death, he predicted that evil 
would come from foreign influence consequent upon 
the ignorance of his countrymen. 

General Pierrot succeeded him. 

He was a good-natured, well-disposed man, and lib- 
eral in the extreme. 

On his first arrival at the Capital he publicly declared 
his wish that no differences on account of color should 
be recognized, but that each citizen should receive fa- 
vor and protection at the hands of the Government, in 
proportion to his love of order, his neighbors, and his 
country. 

Personally he used every effort to allay the preju- 
dices of caste. Had he possessed the experience of 
his predecessor, he might have done well, but Guerrier 
had moved in an elevated sphere, while Pierrot had 
passed most of his time amongst soldiers. A conspir- 
acy broke out which he could have quelled, by shed- 
ding much blood, but being averse to this, x he refused 
and resigned his office. 

This conspiracy originated at a meeting of half a 
dozen persons, black, colored, and white. Were we in- 
clined to picture the individuals belonging to the last 
race, much might be said. Pierrot was deposed ; 
Riche came into power. He had heretofore always 



HAITI. 19 

proved faithful and obedient to Ms superiors, and 
throughout the rebellion he acted under an influence, 
that if exposed, would throw much light upon the po- 
litical state of the country. His administration was a 
bloody one. Though fond of foreigners and inclined 
to further their designs, he was also extremely vain, and 
received the intimations of their wishes, only in the 
most indirect manner. He subjected himself to more 
fatigue than age would allow him to bear • he died in 
1847. 

The Senate assembled to elect a President. Two 
candidates obtaining an equal number of votes, a third 
competitor was brought forward — the present chief 
Soulouque. He was chosen by one party for an in- 
strument suited to their end, and by the other as a 
man against whom there was no ill-will, and on whose 
peaceable disposition they might safely rely. His 
election was hailed with general satisfaction. Soon 
after this, parties were formed, and every means em- 
ployed to set the blacks and mulattoes at war with 
each other. Petitions were made, clubs were institut- 
ed, envy was at work, black men in public life were 
imbued with absurd prejudices, resolutions were pass- 
ed to destroy the mulattoes. Soulouque did not at 
first favor these proceedings, but was finally overruled 
by men before whose eyes were flitting a crown and 
an empire, and the trappings of nobility. 

To all these occurrences, foreigners were neither 
uninterested or inactive spectators. At about this 
crisis, a stranger intruded upon Soulouque, and begged 



20 



HAYTI. 



an interview. On the day appointed he was admitted 
in private, and addressed him thus : " Behold the por- 
trait of Napoleon, — you have his head and bust — with- 
out a doubt you possess his genius also. You may 
become the Napoleon of the blacks and the Emperor of 
the Antilles. Here is the chart of the West Indies, 
the island of Porto Rico sixty miles, Cuba forty miles 
distant — both within one day's sail from you. You 
can liberate them and annex all the "West Indies to 
your Empire. The British will undoubtedly cede over 
to you their islands under certain conditions, and the 
French, Dutch and Danish islands will follow the tor- 
rent, for they are spots containing the elements of com- 
bustion within themselves." Soulouque smiled con- 
temptuously at this and afterwards reported it, so 
wicked did he then consider the means proposed, hav- 
ing no confidence in the foreigner, who shrouded him- 
self from the public eye, and remained unknown. 

The means suggested by this satellite of a remote 
power were, a war of caste, the destruction of all the 
mulattoes, and the expulsion of foreigners by monop- 
olizing the business in the hands of Government, that 
it might transmit it to a few. The entire destruction 
of the Dominicans was represented as of imperious 
necessity, inasmuch as they stood in the way of the 
general establishment of a black Government under a 
foreign protectorate. Soulouque, as we have said, 
deprecated this policy, and clung to the dictates of his 
sense of justice, but he was at length overpersuaded by 
the machiavellian influence of cruel men. Among 



HAYTI. 21 

those who exercised this influence were a few whites, 
the repudiated men of other countries — aiders and 
abettors in a bad cause, ready to vanish if they did not 
succeed. Some of them were acting under the in- 
ducement of mercenary motives, hoping to monopolize 
in some degree a profitable trade ; — others again were 
influenced by political feelings.* There were some 
there too bearing a priestly character, and possessing 
a perfect knowledge of the darkness and ignorance of 
the blacks, who instead of endeavoring to remove, 
were base enough to presume upon it, and to make the 
Church and the influence attaching to themselves as 
ministers of religion, the instruments of carrying out 
their own designs. These were Jesuits, who having 
been driven from their own churches in Europe, had 
come some time before to the island in quest of for- 
tune. Designing and artful, they had quietly spread 
their nets for power and plunder, and now used un- 
scrupulously every means within their grasp, political 
opinions, superstition, war, to effect their wretched 
end. One of them, well known for his immorality and 
baseness, took the lead in a club, through the members 
of which he circulated false documents stating that it 
was the wish of the people that Soulouque should be 
made Emperor. Soon after (though a Frenchman) he 
forwarded a petition asking British protection. 

Since then it is in evidence that two British officers 
occupying high stations in the island, while abroad 
condemned the course taken by Soulouque as cruel 
and ruinous to his country, and expressed hopes that 



22 HAITI. 

the British flag would yet float in Hayti. But one of 
them at the same time acknowledged that he had 
promised his influence, (which he considered very 
large) to promote the election of the Emperor provided 
he could be made a Duke, forgetting that it was base- 
ly inconsistent for him to condemn Soulouque as a bar- 
barian, and yet to be desirous of composing one of this 
distinguished nobility. Such a man we do not believe 
Englishmen are prepared to acknowledge, accident 
must have placed him in his position. 



CUBA. 



The island of Cuba, the capital of which is Havana, 
is situated between 74° and 85° west longitude, and 
19° and 23° north latitude. The form of the island is 
extremely irregular, resembling the shape of a long 
narrow crescent. It is the most westerly of the West 
India Islands, and has decidedly a larger extent of ter- 
ritory than any of them. Lying in the Gulf of Mexi- 
co, it leaves two spacious passages, one of which, be- 
tween the most northerly part of the island and the 
southern point of Florida, is ninety miles wide ; and 
the other, between the southern point of Cuba and the 
northern point of Yucatan, is one hundred and twenty 
miles wide. The distance from Havana to Cat Island, 
at the mouth of the Mississippi, is six hundred and 
sixty miles. 

The entrance to the port of Havana is through a 
channel three-quarters of a mile long, but so narrow 
that only a single vessel can enter at once. It is forti- 
fied through the whole distance with platforms, breast- 
works and artillery. The mouth of this channel is se- 



24 CUBA. 

cured by two strong castles. The one on the eastern 
side, called the Moro Castle, is built in the form of a 
triangle, fortified with bastions and mounted with for- 
ty pieces of cannon nearly on a level with the sea. 
On the opposite side of the channel is another strong- 
fort called the Puntal, connected with the town on the 
north. The city is situated on the western side of the 
harbor, and is surrounded by ramparts, bastions, and 
ditches. Besides these fortifications it is surrounded 
by battlements, all of them furnished with a great 
abundance of artillery. The square citadel, Elfuerte, 
stands at the north east corner of the town ; this has 
also heavy cannon, and here the treasures of the Gov- 
ernment are deposited. 

The soil is fertile, and nature seems especially to 
have fitted it in some parts for the growth of the best 
tobacco, the use of which is considered by the Span- 
iards one of the greatest luxuries. But it does not 
equal in fertility the soil of Hayti, — she must ever re- 
tain her pre-eminence on that score. The island has 
also its mines and wealth of all kinds. It yields an 
immense amount of produce for commerce, and has, 
from its situation, command of both the north and 
south channels of the Gulf of Mexico. The popula- 
tion is about 900,000. 

It appears from Jamaica newspapers, and also from 
those of other British islands, that petitions have been 
drawn up in public meetings at Havana and carried 
about the streets to obtain signatures, asking from 
Parliament the enforcement of the conditions of the 



CUBA. 25 

treaty relating to emancipation. But they do not sug- 
gest the mode by which the indemnity due to owners 
of slaves is to be provided for, or any means to secure 
the well being of the slaves themselves ; whether they 
are to be left free as if in Africa that they may war 
amongst themselves as they are doing in Hayti, or de- 
stroy the whites and mulattoes and place the whole 
island under the black Emperor Soulouque. By this 
latter course Spain would be robbed of her island, and 
Soulouque, under British protection, would possess the 
only three outlets of the Gulf of Mexico. 



NICARAGUA. 



The territory of the Republic of Nicaragua extends 
from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It was 
formerly a part of the Republic of Guatemala in Cen- 
tral America. The northeast coast was discovered by 
Columbus in 1502, and the greater part of it was con- 
quered by the Spaniards in 1524. 

Nicaragua takes its name from a powerful Cacique, 
who was one of the first among the natives to enter 
into friendly relations with the Spaniards, and to em- 
brace their religion. Central America became inde- 
pendent in 1821, and was subsequently incorporated 
with Mexico, but on the fall of Iturbide it disconnect- 
ed itself from the Mexican Republic, and was formed 
into a separate confederation in 1823. Since the de- 
claration of independence the country has been dis- 
turbed by frequent civil wars, but these have now sub- 
sided. 

A noble lake in the interior adds greatly to the 
beauty of the country. This lake, or rather inland 
sea, is one hundred and twenty miles in length, and 



NICARAGUA. 27 



forty-five in breadth at its widest parts. It extends to 
within twenty miles of the Pacific. On this inland sea 
the Spaniards formerly kept a brig of war of fourteen 
guns. There is undoubtedly a sufficient depth of 
water there for the largest ships. 

The staple exports of Central America are gold and 
silver, indigo, cochineal, sarsaparilla, hides, Brazil-wood, 
logwood, and mahogany. No other section in this re- 
gion has so great an abundance of valuable exports. 
The population of the confederation is little short of 
2,000,000, and comprises but few of the negro race. - 

A canal communication between the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans through the lake is obviously one of 
the most important projects connected with the coun- 
try in a commercial point of view. 

Mr. Robinson, an American writer, states the facili- 
ties for its accomplishment as follows : 

" Between the lake and the Pacific the ground is a 
dead level. In the Pacific the water is said to be free 
from rocks and shoals, and on the Popayago coast the 
shore is so bold that a frigate may anchor within a few 
yards of the beach. The river from the lake to St. 
Juan is not navigable." 

The distance from St. Juan river to the Pacific is 
about two hundred and twenty geographical miles. 
There is no doubt a sufficiency of water in the Nicara- 
gua lake for vessels of any burden. 

History gives no record of the King of Musquito, 
unless he be the chief of an Indian tribe under the 
powerful cacique Nicaragua ; but a little black boy 



28 NICARAGUA. 



was taken from the mountains of Central America, not 
long ago, sent to Jamaica to be educated under the di- 
rection of Lord Grey, and afterwards made King of a 
portion of the territory belonging to the Republic of 
Nicaragua. Soon after this proceeding, six hundred 
black troops were sent from Jamaica to the town of 
St. Juan Nicaragua, that the King of Musquito might 
be sustained in the territory that his protectors, the 
English, had assigned to him, in return for which Eng- 
lish enterprise, the town of St. Juan is converted into 
Grey town. Through this united pro vice Lord Pal- 
merston coolly says to the Nicaraguans: "You must 
respect the territory under our protectorate," and the 
minister at Grey town says to the Government of the 
Republic of Nicaragua : a If you do not respect the 
rights of our Mosquito King, our home Government 
will 'chastise' you by sending here more black troops 
from Jamaica under Lord Grey." Obviously so, and 
the next time Lord Grey will claim the whole Republic 
of Nicaragua in return for his repeated services. It 
will be perceived that, in this position of affairs, the 
Blacks will be fighting against the Indians and the na- 
tives in Central America, the Indians will be fighting 
the Whites in Yucatan,* and Soulouque, the black Em- 

* A New Orleans paper of the 26th of October says : " By the kindness of 
a commercial house here we give the following extract of a letter, received 
here, and dated Campeachy, Oct. 9th : Our triumphs over the Indians are so 
frequent, and their attacks against our entrenchments so weak, that it is very 
apparent that their munitions of war are giving out. We have just been ad- 
vised of the capture of a small English vessel with an agent of Pat, the Indian 
leader, on board ; also 6099 lbs. of powder and lead. This vessel was earned 
to Bacalar, but it is expected the English Government will claim the whole. 



NICAEAGUA. 29 



peror, will continue the destruction of the colored in 
Hayti ; while at the same time floods of recaptured 
Africans, and Africans in the irmisports of England 
will be pouring into the West Indies. 

Having now before our minds a rapidly drawn 
sketch of the geographical and present political posi- 
tion of these interesting, because hitherto unfortunate 
countries, we are prepared to look further and to con- 
sider whither their destiny is tending. Brought into 
their present state of anarchy and confusion in a great 
measure through the systematic influence of a power- 
ful Government, exerted year after year with a consist- 
ency and a constancy worthy of a better cause, it may 
interest us to inquire why the affairs of remote and 
comparatively unimportant countries should appear to 
it so considerable as to claim such continued and un- 
remitted regard. The policy pursued by England with 
regard to the West Indies has been, as we have said, 
unswervingly consistent, and being so, blind must he 
be who cannot learn, from an attentive consideration 
of it, her fixed intentions. And as it is within our 
power, it may be for our advantage to see that the ful- 
filment of those intentions interfere not at all with our 
interests. The proximity of these countries to our con- 
tinent, as well as the importance evidently attached to 
them by England, should prevent us from being care- 
less or inactive spectators, until it be too late. We 
cannot but perceive, notwithstanding her professions, 
the wretched state in which England retains her Afri- 
can subjects. As Christians then let us not neglect 



30 NICARAGUA, 



to consider the probable moral condition of Cuba and 
Hayti should her designs prove successful. 

In considering the colonial policy of England we 
shall find it necessary to divest ourselves of all precon- 
ceived opinions, founded upon her own pretensions to 
philanthrophy and benevolence, and look only at what 
she has done, what she is doing, and upon the inevita- 
ble tendency of these acts. We shall find, too, con- 
vincing proof of the obliquity of England's course, in 
the opportunities that will occur to compare it with 
the honest and straight forward one of France. Differ- 
ing principles must and ever will lead to different 
courses of action. 

We have already seen Soulouque assuming the 
throne of an empire, receiving the congratulations of 
the authorities of Jamaica, and meditating plans yet 
more extensive, suggested by English emissaries — 
plans which it will be impossible for him to carry into 
execution without the assistance of England. But 
that assistance is undoubtedly pledged — indeed, when 
we glance at Cuba, already on the eve of an indis- 
criminate emancipation, with no security from contin- 
ued civil war but in joining itself to the kingdom of 
Soulouque — at the King of Mosquito entirely subject 
to the British Government — at the flocks of recaptur- 
ed Africans, and Africans imported in English trans- 
ports, trained to war and to implicit obedience to the 
Government to whom they are so deeply indebted — 
it must be apparent that the whole of Africa, or at 
least as much of it as is requisite, will be used to es- 



NICARAGUA. 31 



tablish a black Empire in the hemisphere of Republics. 
But the same assistance which has been so freely given 
to erect this monarchy will be needed to sustain it. 

The Emperor of the Antilles then must ever remain 
under British protection, and protection is no idle word, 
implying, as it does, subjection. 

Let us look at England possessing either directly or 
indirectly a hold in the Republic of Nicaragua. 

Fort Bacalar in Yucatan, Nassau and Havana com- 
manding both north and south channels of the Gulf of 
Mexico. Hayti alone capable of supporting fifteen 
millions of inhabitants, and then consider whether site 
will be likely to use lightly the advantages obtained 
by the unceasing labor of so many years. Holding 
Cape and Bay Samana, and St. Nicholas Mole, she may 
command the channels east and west of Hayti, and levy 
taxes on the commerce of other nations using those 
passages. In short, it is not easy to estimate the 
power she may acquire under her volunteer protec- 
torate. 

In the mean time, what progress in civilization will 
the subjects of this Black Empire be allowed to make ? 
Obviously none. They must be trained to war, and to 
render them more effective, they must be kept in ignor- 
ance; or at best be so falsely instructed as to make them 
as savage as blood hounds. They must be imbued with 
such prejudices as shall render it impossible for them 
to discover their true friends ; and through their lives 
of misery and degradation they must continue to fight 
for the promotion of the power and the wealth of a 



32 NICAKAGUA. 



G overnment which, notwithstanding its protestations to 
the contrary, will be holding their race in the worst 
form of bondage — the slavery of the mind. 

Republican France in 1789 declared all men free 
and equal, and her determination so to consider 
them. With her republican government fell these 
principles of freedom, but again, with more energy, in 
1848 she freed herself from her kings and did more 
for the cause of liberty in one day than England has 
ever done. She has liberated and called the African 
race to brotherhood. She has proclaimed Liberty, 
Ffaternity, and Equality to all. She has rooted out 
slavery from its foundation, and invited the black man 
to take his seat in the Assembly, not as a colonist, but 
as a citizen of France, that he may defend his national 
rights. There, he is neither sacrificed to the cupidity 
of ambition, nor imbued with prejudices against other 
nations, but is placed on the same footing with the 
rest, and feels that he is a Frenchman and a French 
citizen. 

The Americans long since emancipated their slaves 
in all the Northern States. Schools are everywhere 
provided for the Africans, and they have every ad- 
vantage afforded them to obtain education, that they 
may rise from the abject state in which slavery had 
placed them. In the South, emancipation is not yet 
seen in its true light, and some abolitionists, exercising 
more zeal than knowledge or discretion, have retarded 
instead of advancing the cause. The sad state of Hayti, 
after having been independent for fifty years, is also 



NICAKAGUA. 33 



a stumbling block in its way. Yet we find more true 
philanthropy in the measures adopted by the people 
of the South than in any of those taken by the Brit- 
ish Government, for they have established and sup- 
ported the Republic of Liberia in Africa, on a conti- 
nent where no question can arise concerning the rights 
of the Africans, and by a monthly packet from Balti- 
more afford facilities for return to those who appreciate 
and enjoy a native land. This Republic has already 
made much progress, and is on friendly relations with 
European powers, while Hayti under British influence 
is descending into barbarism. 

If Hayti then is really unable for the time to defend 
and carry out principles of justice, liberality, and be- 
nevolence, and must claim foreign protection, it would 
seem as if it were wisdom in her to trust a nation who 
has ever proved itself friendly to her by deeds, rather 
than, one who has developed her good will, as yet, only 
in words, and whose monopolizing selfishness is so ap- 
parent that it cannot but be perceived. 

Can Hayti have forgotten that on the sad and 
bloody day of the massacre at Port au Prince, her sons 
claimed protection, in their hour of extremity, from the 
English Consul, — in vain ! while at the hands not only 
of the French Consul, but from French and American 
merchants they received all possible aid. 

What difference has the Haytien (chief, peasant, 
trader or sojourner in the land) to expect in the treat- 
ment of the British Government, when that Govern- 
ment has never in the slightest degree reprobated the 



34 NICAKAGUA. 



conduct of its consul during the dismal scenes of April, 
1848. 

A consideration of matters connected with the 
wrongs which have been heaped upon the unenlight- 
ened people of the West Indies is already widely en- 
tertained in this country. 

In regard to the position which it becomes the United 
States to assume, under the circumstances which ex- 
ist, we cannot perhaps better express ourselves than 
by adopting the language of a writer in the Boston 
Journal, who, in relation to the nefarious course pur- 
sued by the British Government affecting the West 
India Islands, says : 

" It is incumbent upon us to scatter the web which 
England has been weaving with so much care and cun- 
ning, and it ought to be done irrespective of considera- 
tions connected with trade or territory. Our country has 
more to thank God for than any other ; it owes some- 
thing to his people who sit in darkness, (never deeper 
than now) upon the borders of her prosperous shores. 
The system which is now weighing down the African 
in the West Indies is more disgraceful, and if possible, 
more inhuman than that which would condemn him to 
perpetual slavery." 

The same writer, after descanting upon the fact that 
a during the reign of Christophe the British were em- 
ployed in exciting a horde of negroes to harass and 
devour each other," says in conclusion, alluding to a 
particular case of transcendent enormity, in which Sir 
James Lucas Yeo acted as the blood-hound of the 



NICAEAGUA. 35 



black chief: "This atrocious act (of a powerful and 
exemplary nation) confounded the dim notions which 
these unenlightened Islanders had instinctively imbib- 
ed in relation to humanity. Its influence for evil was 
potent then ; it is powerful amongst the same race now, 
(after a lapse of forty years,) and it will continue to be 
felt in the world long after the British Empire shall 
have crumbled into dust, and the very name of Eng- 
land is forgotten." 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




006 137 847 



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